Melody and Dissonance
by GreytheGhost
Summary: She came from a long line of exceptional servants, and she was no exception. Trained thoroughly in cleaning and combat, but nothing could have prepared her for the enigma that is Sebastian Michealis.
1. Chapter 1 Beginning of Part 1

**Author's Note:** The first half of this chapter is to get the story going and for background. If you were looking for something along the lines of a short one shot you have come to the wrong place, I plan on making this rather lengthy with lots of plot. This was originally supposed to be a Sebastian X Reader, but the guidlines dictate otherwise, so feel free to replace the main character's name with yours or whatever. This is also my first fanfiction where there was an actual effort present, so be nice please, but help is always wanted.

I was a servant through and through, trained in the ways of elite house cleaning since I was very little. My family tree consisted of various types of working classmen, all highly and naturally talented at their trades. It was in my blood to serve others. A fire ignited in my heart the day I was old enough to comprehend things, a passion to contribute to the well being of others. My name was Evelyn Avis and I was one hell of a maid.

As my family was more known for their expertise in servanthood, there was a darker root running through the tree. Serving others does not just consist of daily chores and dusting, no, those are only the trivial things in my line of work. In order to be a proper servant, a proper maid, I must know how to protect my master with every last fiber of my being, to be willing to carry out their dirty work and to even shed blood if necessary. I of course have spent my whole life trained in combat and cleaning, and I was indeed ready to take whatever the world threw at me with a determined soul.

For now I worked for a Lord residing in the countryside, along with his childhood fiance, now wife. They were two conflicting souls, he was strict and tense, she was soft and emotional. I could sense they had more of a bond that bordered on the kind of love siblings had for each other, rather than their parents' intended romance. That would explain why they didn't have any children. I enjoyed serving them both however, it always delighted me when I could make the usually cold Lord express pride in having me for a maid.

One morning as I awoke, the tension in the bedroom that I shared with two other maids, was thick with worry and uncertainty. Their hushed whispers and concerned faces alerted me that something had gone wrong. Slipping out of bed I stretched my arms and asked in my roommates' direction,

"Did something happen during the night?" One of them, Daisy was her name, turned to me with sad eyes and replied,

"Oh it's awful," she began, twirling her golden orange hair between her fingers and tugging at it, "T-The Master... He...He was murdered last night." The fear was obvious in her voice, and tears welled in her eyes.

"I.I-I was awake when it happened." she continued, the salty liquid breaching her eye lids, "I found him on the floor." her voice cracked. Daisy grabbed onto the other maid's arm, Claire, and buried her face in her sleeve. Claire put her arm around the sobbing girl, and kissed the top of her head in a reassuring way,

"I-It'll be alright, Daisy." She murmured in her soothing french tone, though it was not enough to cover up her own uncertainty. The grey eyed Claire looked to me for help, and I happily obliged. I came and sat down on the bed next to Daisy and opposite of Claire. The gravity of the situation had hit me the moment the words spilled from Daisy's lips, the Master was dead. He was murdered. It could have been prevented. I should have prevented it. Thoughts swam through my head as I mindlessly patted and comforted the crying flora titled girl. The Master's wife crossed my mind.

"Is Lady Filstriss alright?" I asked in a hollow tone.

"Yeah." Claire replied "She was rather upset though, wouldn't stop crying. Told us just to stay in our rooms till something was figured out." I nodded.

"You better get dressed though, might call on us at anytime." That's right, I was still in my nightgown. I didn't notice at first, but when I looked down I saw a couple dark stains on my chest. I reached up to touch my face and my finger tips were met with a wet cheek. I had been crying. Or just tearing up really.

"Y-Yes of course." I replied with a shrug, twitched a smile, and wiped my face with my sleeve as I turned away.

About an hour or so later Claire, Daisy and I were just sitting around the room, discussing last nights events and what might transpire afterwards. Daisy had finally composed herself and was sitting next to Claire, leaning her head on her shoulder as Claire rested her hand on Daisy's. They were the cutest couple I had ever seen, and they trusted only me with their secret. If they had ever shown the true colors of their relationship in public, god knows the horrors that would befall them. They were my best friends though, and I would never allow that to happen, just like I would courageously protect a master, with the same valor I would protect them. However, I was quite unsettled that they were only concerned for their own well being, and not that of the Master, and how he could have been saved had someone been on guard. Daisy's midnight trip to the kitchen to fetch a small snack didn't count as on guard. I felt so guilty, all my life I was taught to prevent things like this, and yet here I was, talking about my future fate as a servant elsewhere because I couldn't do my job.

There was a soft knock at the door and I lifted my head to hear,

"Ladies, I would like you to report to the drawing room please." It was Lady Filtriss, her honey voice laced with despair. "Yes, my lady!" Claire called back, standing up and taking Daisy with her.

"Come on, she probably wants to discuss what's going to happen." I nodded in agreement as I stood up and brushed out the wrinkles in my uniform.

As I was about to enter the drawing room full of servants I stopped Claire and Daisy at the door,

"If by any chance we are separated, I just want you to know it was a pleasure working with you and I think of you guys like sisters, and it would kill me if anything bad were to happen to you." I went to hug them but I stopped myself, wiping at the tears forming in my eyes. They noticed my attempt at a hug, and completed it for me, wrapping me in a warm embrace. I cried a bit, out of uncertainty, fear, and concern. My fingers dug into Claire's back, I've never hugged anyone like this before, it always made me feel vulnerable to open up to people and was something I tried to avoid. Daisy was the first one to release, and her loving blue eyes met mine with so much respect and admiration. Claire then pulled away, and I just now realized I would miss the scent of her silky black hair. These two ladies meant to much to me, and the thought of possibly never seeing them again was too much to bear. I wish only the best for them and that their relationship flourished into something that one day everyone can accept.

As I entered the drawing room filled with servants I noticed all the chairs were positioned towards the front of the room facing the podium which was occupied by a Lady Filstriss clad in black, brown hair, blue eyes and all. She was still young in a sense, only 25 and a love lost. Her emotions was transparent, easily showing on her fairy like features. I scanned the room for an empty chair and found one near the back. I could feel her dead eyes on me, still so kind her heart had not been corrupted by vengeance or hatred, only mellowed by melancholy. She waited patiently for the rest to take their seats.

Once everyone was situated she began,

"As most of you know, there was an intruder last night. As far as we are concerned they were only set on stealing our valuables. However-" he voice cracked and her eyes watered, "My h-husband just so happen to be roaming the manor and got in the way. He...H-he got himself...killed." There was a few shocked murmurs in the crowd, but then a long silence minus the sniffling of Lady Filstriss.

"Now, now." she started again, settling herself more than anyone else, trying so hard to be strong, "He was prepared for an instance like this, and since he knows I do not require the services of others, it was in his will to send you away to other manors, as to not strip you of your jobs."

This was no shocking development, everyone knew that Lady Filstriss was never the one for this kind of life. She preferred the causal life of a cottage, living in balance with the mid-class.

"Every manor in the will was already fully aware much time in advance, perhaps even years ago, so there is no need to fear rejection or for your job." She motioned to a servant in front and he handed her a list, clearing her throat she found her place and read,

"I will now begin reading off servant names and the manors they will be sent to. Some of you will being going alone, others will have a partner or two."

As she droned on and on through countless names, I heard Claire and Daisy get called. They were going together, but I wasn't going with them. The feeling was bittersweet. I decided to doze out of it again till I heard my name called, and then finally it was,

"Miss Avis, you will be assigned to the Phantomhive manor.". The Phantomhive manor... Where have I heard that before? Oh yes! Wasn't it that one company that made toys and candy run by this little thirteen year old? Ha, this was sure going to be easy, if not a little odd. What kind of trouble could a kid get into that was life threatening? Like I said, easy.

* * *

**Meanwhile at the Phantomhive Manor:**

"What is this?" Ciel asked out loud as he held a letter in between his hands, reading it with a steady eye. It wasn't curiosity, it was confusion mixed with cynicism. Taking a moment to read it over again, he release yet another,

"What?" directed at no one in particular. Sebastian, standing in front of his desk, still waiting to be dismissed, leaned over with a curious eye,

"If you don't mind me asking, Master, but what is it that has you so baffled?".

"It is from the Filstriss Manor," he replied, eye still locked on the letter, "It is from the Lady of the Manor. It says the Lord had passed away and they no longer require their servants, so they are sending one here. It also states that we agreed to receive one apparently, that is a lie however. I've never even conversed with these people before, yet alone heard of them."

"Well it would be nice to have a little extra help around the manor." Sebastian replied, "Yet... Another mouth to feed."

"Precisely." Ciel replied curtly, setting down the letter and looking up at his butler,

"I don't need any more servants, yet alone want any. Those three already cause me enough stress."

"What are you suggested we do then?" Sebastian inquired, tilting his head slightly.

"Send her back." he stated simply and with conclusion, "Easy and done." Ciel folded his hands together and leaned back in his chair.

"Her?" Sebastian wondered out loud.

"Yes, " Ciel replied "her name is Evelyn, it said she was the best of the best, however, I can't seem to believe that. It also said she would arrive approximately sometime tomorrow. It's too late to send out a letter."

"Are you sure it would be best to send her back, she might really be an improvement." Sebastian suggested with a smile. Ciel scoffed,

"She'd only be an improvement if she is better than you, and I honestly doubt that." he crossed his legs in disdain.

"I suppose you are right, my Lord." Sebastian replied cooly, "After all, I am one hell of a butler." Ciel rolled his eye, the amount of times he had heard that was innumerable,

"I'm sure if you could you would alert the whole world that you are one hell of a butler, you say it so much." Sebastian took no offense to this, but was instead very amused,

"Would you like me to stop saying it, my Lord?" he smiled.

"I honestly do not care, Sebastian." Ciel moaned. Sebastian wryly smiled,

"Yes, my Lord. Might I request to see the letter, please?"

"Sure, knock yourself out." Ciel leaned out of his chair to hand the folded letter to his butler. Sebastian brought it up to his face to read,

"...Master." He began, ", you seem to have missed a crucial part of the letter." he brought it down so that his red eyes, like a ruby gel pen sketched into his sockets, were just barely above the letter.

"What are you talking about?" Ciel inquired, leaning forward.

"It is addressed to Lord and Lady Phantomhive, your parents. Obviously this was decided before...the incident." surprised, Ciel replied with a

"Oh...how could I have missed that?" he felt like an idiot. Sebastian smirked, his master was rarely ever embarrassed like that, and he couldn't help but revel quietly in the moment.

"Regardless of that fact, are you not going to follow through on your parents' decision?" the butler asked. Ciel sighed as he closed his eye,

"...I suppose not." he opened it, "Sebastian, when she arrives tomorrow, I want you to show her around, introduce her to the others, and all that okay?"

"Yes, my Lord." Sebastian replied, bowing slightly with a modest smile.


	2. Chapter 2

I was nervous, yet excited, clutching my suitcase in my lap. Leaning forward to peer out the carriage's door window, I saw that I was currently passing through a wooded area, sunlight was randomly dappled across the earthen floor and illuminated the area with an emerald leaf glow. Sitting back I inhaled deeply and sighed, thinking to myself about what awaited me on the other side of this forest. The clicking of horse hooves served as a temporary escape from the boring carriage ride and I let myself zone out to the droning hum of hooves. I let myself get lost in the clicks of the wheels over rocks and gallops of hooved beasts, and in no time we had already stopped. Fixing my hair and adjusting the white bow that sat atop my head, I exited the carriage. As soon as I stepped off the carriage departed. Realizing I didn't have my bag, panic flooded through me like rain to dying crops. Stunned, I made a staggering beginning towards chasing after the carriage screaming,

"Hey! Wait! I forgot my bag!" but no matter how much I yelled he seemed to not hear me. Cursing underneath my breath I picked up the pace, years of track training had me conditioned to run long distances, and fast too.

"Wait!" I shrieked. Still nothing, and it was beginning to turn back into the forest. With a determined growl I pressed on, almost able to jump upon it. I clutched the back bar and managed to pull myself up, my hair was a mess and I was panting heavily. He should be able to hear me now!

"Hey, driver!" I shouted. Startled he let out an exclamation, pulling the carriage to a hasty stop. Not prepared for the sudden jolt I fell off the carriage and onto the dusty path, filth and dirt stained my outfit, hands were I braced myself, and my face after I had touched it with my hands. Great! Now I'm an absolute mess, what is the new master going to think of that?

Groaning I stood up and tried to brush off the dust that had settled on my nice white apron, only making it worse since my hands were filthy themselves.

"Driver...driver..." I panted, walking along side the carriage, "I forgot my bag."

"Oh, I am so sorry, my lady, I did not mean to cause you any trouble." he apologized.

"No, no, no it's quite alright." I lied. No, NO, it was NOT quite alright. Opening up the carriage door and pulling out my suitcase the driver asked,

"Would you like me to take you the rest of the way back, you look exhausted." smiling my best fake polite smile I replied,

"Ah, no , thank you. I can walk."

"If you insist, my lady." he replied a bit uncertain before starting up the horses again. He had other servants to escort and it was kind of him to offer to cut out some of his working hours to help me, but I couldn't let the other servants be late arriving to their new manors, that would reflect badly on them.

As I began to walk back I heard a voice from the trees and it startled me,

"My, my, that was quite impressive." they said. Looking around frantically I spotted the source, a pale man with coal black hair leaning on a tree branch.

"I-I suppose so." I answered. Oh no! Someone had spotted me in my current condition, this was embarrassing. I frantically tried to fix my hair and wipe the dirt caked on my skin, but I failed miserably. Laughing nervously I looked back up at him, he seemed amused. Suddenly he dropped from the tree, disappearing from sight for a second or two in the foliage. Surprised and concerned for his safety (it was a rather high branch) I gasped loudly as I lurched forward, running to his aid. I heard him hit the ground, it was a loud thud and there was the swish of flora,

"Sir, are you oka-!" I halted as I saw him emerge unscathed from the plant-life, I backed up a bit. I wasn't sure what to think, but I was definitely relieved.

"I take it you are, Evelyn Avis." he began as he walked towards me, I began to notice how nice looking of a man he was, but the eyes that sat within his skull unsettled me beyond belief.

"Uuh, y-yes, yes that's me." I replied, digging my nails into the handle of my bag.

"We have been anticipating your arrival, however, now quite in this..." he looked me over, set off by my muddled appearance, "...Condition." Grimacing internally I replied,

"Ah, yes, sorry about this. I-I forgot my bag you see and uh..yeah." I held it up in front of me as if it were some sort of protective barrier.

"I know, I saw the whole thing. I heard yelling so I thought I would investigate." he looked me dead in the eyes, causing me to glance away. I'm not really sure I could get used to his glare.

"I'm Sebastian, by the way, Sebastian Michealis, butler of the Phantomhive Manor." The way he looked at me was as if he could tell I was scared of him, and he loved it, breathing in the aura like a sweet perfume.

"O-Oh it's nice to meet you, Sebastian." I bowed nicely. I thought that only my occasional stammering gave away my inner turmoil, but he seemed to read me like a book.

"Like wise," he smiled, "Let's get you back to the manor so you can get cleaned up. Then I will show you around the manor and introduce you to the master and staff."

"Alright." I agreed.

"If I may?" he gestured to my suitcase.

"Hm? Oh, no, no thank you I can carry it myself." I replied clutching it tighter to my chest.

"It is really no trouble to me." he looked me squarely in the eyes, hand still outstretched. I stared at his gloved hand, not wanting to seem like I needed help. However, I glanced up to meet his gaze and was convinced otherwise. I slowly nodded as I handed it to him, Sebastian thanked me and we headed back to the manor.

* * *

Sebastian was kind enough to spare me any more embarrassment by letting me wash up and change before he introduced me to anyone. Standing in the mirror I straightened my posture, turning and craning my neck to make sure I looked just fine. I felt so nice now that I was clean. It was a rather long walk back to the manor, I didn't even realize that I had ran that far or quickly. About thirty minutes was spent feeling like a sweaty and filthy mess. I glanced at my suitcase laying on my new bed, in my new room, empty and unshared. Claire and Daisy crossed my mind, but I pushed them out, I had to move on. It was actually quite bothering me how the suitcase was cracked open and had stray garments sticking out. I decided to just fully unpack and put them away into the dresser.

Just as I was about done unpacking there was a knocking at the door,

"Miss Avis, are you ready yet?" it was Sebastian.

"Yes, sir!" I called back, rising from my kneeling position and sliding the drawer back in. I went to go answer the door. As I opened it, Sebastian was standing there with his pocket watch out.

"I'm ready, sir." I said calmly. I had gotten more used to his presence in the short while that I had been here, but he still gave me the chills.

"Yes, good." he replied, setting the watch back into his pocket, "We have to get this over with quick though, I have to prepare the young master's dinner soon."

"Yes, of course." I replied, "I would hate to be a delay to you, sir." He acknowledged your response with a simple nod,

"Follow me, please."

* * *

My feet began to tire as I was nearing the end of my tour of the manor, listening to Sebastian go on and on about certain cleaning procedures in different rooms. I did not mind though, I really liked his voice, and I asked questions on purpose just to hear it. He seemed to know just about everything, and he was rather polite too. A little too perfect though, it was intimidating.

"And that concludes your tour." he bowed as he stopped in front of a door,

"The Master would like to see you now. Now if you'll excuse me I have dinner to tend to." and with that he left me alone in the middle of the hallway.

"Uuuuuhhh..." I looked around helplessly, was this the door or did he just stop here on random?

"That is indeed the correct door, Miss Avis." I nearly jumped out of my skin as I heard Sebastian's voice behind me. He found my reaction funny and thought to himself, 'having this new maid could be more fun than I thought.'.

"Oh, okay,uh, t-thank you, Sebastian." I stammered

"It was no trouble to me." he smiled at me as he left once more. For as nice as he was, he was still pretty damn creepy.

As I knocked on the door, I heard the new master for the first time, a young boy's voice called in response,

"Come in." it was not the kind of voice I would expect to be owned by a kid, it was monotonous and serious, too adult like. Clicking the doorknob I stepped inside the Phantomhive's office. I was taken back by Ciel's appearance, for a thirteen year old he looked like he had stared into the pits of hell and wore a grim expression, but I guessed he would have to be that way if he expected anyone to take him seriously in the business world.

"So, you are the new maid?" Ciel asked with curiosity.

"Yes, sir." I bowed for him, a lot less nervous in his presence than in Sebastian's.

"Take a seat, please." he motioned to an empty chair that he had positioned in front of his desk, "I have some questions for you to answer." Nodding in obedience I sat down placing my hands in my lap.

"First of all, welcome to my manor, I hope everything is to your liking." he began, I nodded to say,

"Yes, indeed, it is very lovely here."

"Good, how has Sebastian been so far?" he asked. My heart twitched a little at the mention of his name.

"He has been nothing but kind to me, Sir." I replied.

"As expected." Ciel smirked to himself, "So, in the letter it stated that you were the 'best of the best', would you care to elaborate on that for me?"

"Oh, is that what it really said?" I blushed a bit, I wasn't really used to being complimented to my face, "Well, I can assure you that I am very modest about my work, but I come from a very long line of skilled and talented servants, it is in my blood to serve you see. We are trained in more than just cleaning, but also combat so we are able to protect our masters as well. I spent a lot of my childhood mastering the art of all kinds of weaponry and physical endurance, as well as typical maid duties. You'll see that I am pretty much capable of anything, my Lord."

"Is that so? How interesting." he leaned forward so that his elbows rested on his desk, "I'll have to see these skills in action myself before I can believe that. Seeing as your last master was murdered, it seems you were unable to save him." My eyes widened, was this kid seriously bringing that up?! It just made me feel worse about the whole situation.

"I'd prefer not to reflect on my failed duties as a maid, my Lord." I lowered my head a bit. Ciel lost his almost smile,

"Well forgetting about it isn't going to be very productive. What if you fail in protecting me?" His single eye burned holes in me skin, it was a deathly stare.

"I can assure you that won't happen, sir." I replied almost too quickly with a hint of anger.

"...Let's hope not." he leaned back in his chair.

That wasn't at all what I had expected, Ciel had maturity in him beyond his years. Telling from his eye patch, it seems that it was forced upon him by misfortune. Perhaps that it why I could not find any pictures of his parents anywhere. How tragic.

"That will be all, Miss Avis." Ciel dismissed me, "The Servant's eat in the Servant's hall. I trust you'll be able to find your way, after all, you did just have a tour." This kid was trying to test and push me, I could just tell. And of course I knew where the Servant's dinning room was at! I wasn't just gawking at Sebastian the entire time. Well maybe I was, but I was also paying attention, it's called multitasking, which I excel at.

"Yes, Master." I bowed as I stood up, exiting the room. I began walking towards the servant's hall when I heard foot steps behind me,

"Do you need any help with getting where you are going, Miss Avis?" Sebastian called. I didn't stop walking but I did tilt my head back and reply,

"No, thank you, Sebastian. I know exactly where I am going."

"Is that so?" his voice was considerably closer.

"Yes, I have a decent memory. And didn't you have dinner to tend to?" I asked.

"I have already finished all my tasks for today and dinner is currently cooling in the kitchen. In the meanwhile I have nothing to do." he replied.

"Done already?" I stopped in my tracks and turned around, shocked, "I was barely in there for 15 minutes!" that was really quite impressive.

"Well you see, I am simply one Hell of a butler." he walked by me with a smirk. A smirk that was to die for, why did he have to do that to me? Without realizing it my heart was beating faster and I tried to keep up with his long strides.

"Where are you going now?" I asked, trailing behind.

"Wherever you're going, the servant's hall if I'm correct?" he replied, glancing back at me.

"Yeah, I'm not really that hungry though to be honest." I answered, playing absent mindedly with the tassels on my apron.

"Still, it would be an opportune moment to introduce yourself don't you think?"

"Ehm, yeah, sure." I replied, but then a question entered my mind, "Sebastian? If you don't mind me asking but...are your eyes naturally that color?"

"Why yes, there are indeed all mine and natural." he replied cooly, "I wondered the same about your's since they are quite a striking shade of brown...no...gold." Blushing furiously I covered my face with my hands, was he trying to me flustered or did he just play on everyone's heart strings? The answer was not the latter, he was deliberately flattering me to get a reaction, he found it rather entertaining to watch me struggle to keep myself together. I did not know this at the time, however. The only reason he didn't try this on the other maid, Mey-rin I think he called her, was because she broke to pieces way too easily. She was far too easy to manipulate, I however, was stronger than her and it intrigued him. He wanted to test my limits of self control. Very devious if you ask me.

"Oh, uh, thank you." I managed to keep my voice intact this time. He only smile back at me. Most of the trip was spent walking in silent reflection, giving me some time to think about some things.

"Is Ciel always like that?" I asked flatly, just thinking out loud.

"Like what?" Sebastian replied.

"Antagonizing." I kind of spat the word.

"I'm afraid so, Evelyn." he answered, "Has been ever since his parent's incident."

"Oh, well, I'm sorry to hear that. It must have been terrible for him." I said, so I guess my theory was right.

"I wouldn't go pitying him though, it might not fare so well for you if you did." I saw him glance at me, but only for a second.

"Here we are." Sebastian stopped in front of a pair of doors and opened them to reveal a typical Servant's hall. A long wooden table down the center with a large window letting light in at the end. However, the window was not enough since the sun was currently setting, so they had turned on the gaslights. Sebastian escorted me to the table and sat down with me while the other servants were just arriving.

Even though the food was the most amazing food I had ever eaten, I just couldn't eat that much of it. I suppose I was a little homesick, or, manor sick really. I missed my old Master and his Lady already. Especially my friends. The company was nice though, everyone was lovely, and I had great conversations. Sebastian was strangely quiet though, barely making any remarks and not eating at all. I could sense Meyrin staring at me for most of the time, and staring at the dashing butler seated next to me. What was that look in her eyes? Jealousy? Jealous of what? I was just sitting next to him, unless he was so detached from everyone else that this was considered very close. The effect of me feeling that Meyrin was that I couldn't help but feel threatened by her. Sure she was a nice girl, very zany, erratic, and well intentioned, but we all have irrational feelings of protectiveness and infatuation, just how could we be human if we didn't?

Soon it was time to clean up our scarce mess and prepare for bed, Sebastian insisted on cleaning up mine for me and leaned over me numerous times to do so, just lightly brushing against me. He helped me up from my seat, and I could still feel Meyrin's eyes glancing over to us. We parted ways once out the door and I headed for my room.

* * *

**Meanwhile in Ciel's Office**:

"So, Sebastian, is Evelyn proving useful yet?" Ciel asked, looking up at his butler.

"I'm afraid not, sir." Sebastian began, "However, I will take blame for that since I did not assign her any tasks to complete so far. I figured since she just arrived today that I should not be so hard on her, but I will make sure to give her plenty of tasks tomorrow." Ciel replied with interest,

"Well from what she had told me she is perfectly capable of handling almost anything, so I'm sure a few tasks on the first day wouldn't have done her any harm." he stopped for a second before he continued, "I was hoping for her to prove herself."

Sebastian looked down at him with curiosity,

"And why is that, my Lord?" Ciel's eye widened as he sought after an answer,

"D-Don't question my motives." he folded his arms, "I have my reasons." he murmured as he glanced down at his desk. Sebastian smiled and sighed,

"Very well, Master." walking over to Ciel's side he continued, "It is time for bed, my Lord, you have a rather busy day tomorrow with all your paper work and such." Ciel groaned as he stood up,

"I suppose so, I'll probably be stuck in the study all day tomorrow.".


	3. Chapter 3

Sunrise seemed to come slower than usual as I lay restlessly in bed, barely catching a wink of sleep. Rolling out of bed I completed my morning routine in under 15 minutes. Though I was tired, that didn't skew my efficiency.

Heading out the door I just so happen to bump into MeyRin, perfect timing too! She seemed in a rush, but I had to ask her,

"Um, hey, Meyrin! I've got a question for you." I stopped her in the hall and she looked at me with a helpful grin,

"What is it, deary?" she asked.

"Forgive me for being forgetful but where are we supposed to go in the mornings? To get our tasks for the day or do we just do what needs to be done as we see it?" I asked, feeling a little ditzy because Sebastian probably mentioned multiple times but I could not remember. She immediately replied,

"Well just follow me, its okay if you forgot, I was going there anyway." She grabbed my hand and pulled me along hurriedly down the corridor to the backstairs, the only stairs the servants were supposed to use. As we arrived there we accompanied Bardroy and Finnian who were just standing and waiting for me and Meyrin of course. But it wasn't them I had wanted to see, it was the mysterious noir butler, who was standing with an unmistakable posture at the foot of the stairs. I admit that he was attractive and nice to look at, but that was probably all there was too him besides being impressive and obedient. It was a boring attraction, yet it excited me none the less.

"You're five minutes late." Sebastian stared up at Meyrin with a piercing stare, "Unacceptable for a Phantomhive maid of two years." I gulped with anxiety, well that's a new side of him, I braced myself for reprimand, but it never came. Instead came Sebastian's soothing voice,

"It is to be expected of you however since I failed to mention morning procedures, I do apologize." he bowed slightly for me before he pulled out a list.

"He was never that easy on us." I heard Bard complain to Finny. Sebastian cleared his throat as he shot him a stare, eliciting a hushed sorry from him. For some reason that made me feel superior, but I didn't want him to go easy on me!

Sebastian pulled put a pair of reading glasses and placed them on his nose as he began to read,

"Today there are no events planned, not even all week except for Saturday when there will be a ball on behalf of the encouragement of Madame Red." A ball? I thought, it should be no problem to set up, my previous manor hosted tons of balls. Sure I thought they were magnificent and lovely, I've only attended one as a guest, but the coordinance needed for dancing was completely void in me. I could do most anything but dance, I suppose it just made me nervous being so close to another person that my mind got all jumbled.

"The Master is to be very busy today with paperwork, so none of you are to disturb him. As for household duties, Finnian, the estate lawn needs mowing and the hedges trimmed." Finnian shot up and saluted with an enthusiastic "Yes, sir!" before bounding off to go complete his duties.

"Bard, you are to prepare the Master's breakfast as I will be busy this morning. This is the only point in the day which you will disturb him." Sebastian ordered with extra sternness in the last sentence.

"Sounds easy enough." Bard commented as he headed off towards the kitchen.

"Meyrin," Sebastian glared at her coldly, but his gaze slowly shifted to me, revealing a more gentle tone in the crimson depths,

"The drawing room needs new wallpaper and there is a stack of dishes in the kitchen that needs cleaning." As Meyrin hurried off that left me with Sebastian.

"The Master has requested that I give you extra tasks today, Evelyn." he adjusted his glasses with a smirk, "I hope you do not mind." I died a little on the inside but I managed to keep my facade up. Of course Ciel would want to test me expecting me to fail, but I'd show him.

"Of course it's fine, Sebastian, orders are orders after all." I replied knowingly, smiling a bit.

"I see." he nodded, amused, "Your following tasks are to mop the floors in here, clean the laundry, clean all the windows inside out and , oh yes, there happens to be a spider infestation as well that needs to be taken care of. Also to help Meyrin with dishes, that is all." He placed his glasses back into his vest pocket and discarded the list.

"Any questions?" he asked, advancing up the staircase where I stood.

"No, I've got everything." I assured him, but then froze suddenly as he walked past me, his hand 'accidentally' brushing against mine. A jolt of what I could only describe as electricity was sent up my arm caused by the brief contact, damn him.

"Very well then, I'll leave you to it." Oh how he loved the way my soul quivered around him and how it faltered at the faintest touch of his hand. Yet it was so interesting that my swirling emotions flatly contradicted the stoic mask on my face. He wanted to break that mask, to make me admit weakness.

It was half way through the day and I was half way done. Tackling my tasks with ease and precision, it would have taken any one else nearly double the time to get this far. All the while I couldn't stop thinking about him,Sebastian that is, and how he barely even tried to make me flustered, but was increasingly successful anyway. Just his name brought a blush to my face, and most of the time I caught myself smiling dumbly at nothing in particular.

I thought it was just so ridiculous though, no one should be able to make anyone feel that way in under two days, or anyone human at least. But alas he made my pulse quicken, and I shamefully loved it. Give it a couple days, I would tell myself, it is just a stupid infatuation, you'll get over it. Or at least I wanted to.

When I finished cleaning the windows, the task that definitely took the longest, all that as left for me to do was to help Meyrin with the dishes. I hoped she wasn't already done, just imagine how bad it would look if I let her do all the work.

Striding into the kitchen I looked for Meyrin, and indeed there she was, just starting on the dishes. The wallpaper must have taken her forever then if she's just starting on the dishes now in the early evening.

"Meyrin!" I called to her from the door, now walking over, "Let me help you with those.".She looked a little surprised,

"Oh no no, it's fine , deary, I got it." she smiled. Just let me help you so we can get this over with, I was so tempted to speak to her in a patronizing tone, but I didn't, because that would be rude, and I wasn't rude.

"It's one of my tasks to help you, my last one actually.". She started filling up the deep tub of a sink with water and dropped a bar of soap in it,

"Well if that's the case, then go right ahead." She began delicately placing the stained white plates and dishware into the sink and scrubbing at them as she handed a rag. I took the cloth and rolled up my sleeves, this shouldn't take very long with my help.

"So how do you like it here at the Manor, Evelyn?" she tried to make conversation as she set out a cleaned dish.

"It's okay. A lot smaller than the Filstriss manor, which is the estate that I came from by the way." I set out my fourth cleaned dish already, and I smiled with pride as I noticed from the corner of my eye Meyrin gawking at my in shock.

"Oh my, Evelyn, I haven't seen anyone clean dishes that fast! Except Sebastian, but he's exceptional anyway." she blushed at the mention of his name and her voice faltered. I took a defensive stance against her, I couldn't help but want to snap the plate I was holding clean in half. She was nice and all but I hated it when she would talk about Sebastian like they could fall in love at any moment. I knew that would never happen though, from the way Sebastian talked about her when I arrived yesterday as he was escorting me to the manor, she was just hopeless. My goal right now is that he never talks about me like that.

"Heheh, Sebastian really is exceptional isn't he?" I faked a smile, showing too much teeth so that it looked more like a sneer .She got the hint that I wanted her to shut up, and we worked in silence for the next fifteen minutes.

As I set down the last plate I turned to Meyrin who seemed pleasantly relieved,

"I've never gotten dishes done so fast before," she beamed, "Thanks for the help.".

"It's no problem, it was easy." yeah, easy on the time, but not easy on my hands, I looked down at my pruned fingers.

"You can run along now, I can put the dishes away, you were only instructed to clean them and nothing else really." she dismissed me. Clasping my hands behind my back I replied,

"Are you sure? That's an awful lot of plates." I desperately wanted to be helpful. However much I wanted to help though, I wouldn't go begging if I was denied again.

"It's fine, you can get some free time to yourself before dinner now." she tried to shoo me off with genuine politeness. I sighed and blinked,

"I guess I'll just go relax in my room or something." I turned out the door, not saying bye or anything. As I was walking away I heard the clanking of dishes being stacked and Meyrin talking to them,

"Alright, alright, just...one...more.. Stay!stay!stay!stay!stay!" panic filled her voice, but then she breathed out in relief. I slowed my pace, from the sounds of it she seemed to have taken too many, but I musn't interfere, no matter how much I wanted to. I heard her stumble into the hallway and head in the opposite direction. There was a piercing scream and I immediately identified it as Meyrin's voice. I whipped my head around and my feet were even faster as I practically flew down the hallway to her aid. Screw not interfering. She obviously needed my help back in the kitchen and it was stupid of me not to insist. As I reached her I hastily pushed Meyrin out of the way of all the airborne plates. My eyes darted rapidly all over the place, calculating approximately how I would save this. My quickened pulse and adrenaline did all the work for me and I ended up looking like a successful circus act. Plates and silverware awkwardly stacked across my body, and I strained to keep myself still.

"Meyrin." I breathed through gritted teeth, afraid too much movement might cause all the plates to topple. Instead of replying she just sat on the floor where I had discarded her, staring up at me in awe.

"Don't just gawk at me." I said sternly, almost losing my stance and dropping a plate.

"Oh-Oh! Yes sorry!" Meyrin jumped up suddenly, concern washing over he face, "You were so magnificent though, just like Se-" she cut herself off and began removing the dishes from my body.

"Do you always carry this many?" I asked, being able to loosen up a bit.

"Why, yes." she replied "It's easie-"

"No, you don't anymore. Okay?" I cut her off quickly. Nodding sheepishly she agreed, removing the last plate from me.

"Or at least make sure you always have help." I held out my hands to her in an offer to carry some of the plates, a smile on my face. She grinned back at me and obliged to my request.

"You're so much nicer about it than...other certain people." she told me as we started walking to the dining room to put them away in the cabinets.

"Is that so?" I asked, not really paying attention but giving it to the end of the hallway I was just in, I could swear I saw-no. I didn't. I was just tired was all.

* * *

**Sebastian P.O.V**:

From across the manor I heard a scream. Not again, was all I could think as I sighed, abandoning my current duties. She's done this how many times now? Too many to recall.

As I swiftly maneuvered the manor with ease, selecting the quickest routes, I pinpointed the scene of the accident. But something stopped me in my tracks. It was Miss Avis , gliding just as quick as I, down the corridor and tossing the incompetent servant to the floor with hidden strength. I anticipated her failure but was pleasantly surprised when she managed to catch all the flung dishes. Her form was not as graceful as I could have achieved, but it was most impressive for a human. I watched just a while longer out of curiosity to see what she would do next. It was interesting how the fiery beats of her soul suggested that breaking a plate over Meyrin's head was the only relief of stress she could have, trust me, I would have loved to see that. But instead she offered kindness and advice. Oh such a cynical and violent girl kept caged by politeness and manners twisted in by an obedient blood line. It made me wonder just what kind of taste, what color, it would have. The soul of a hard working maid never enticed me so much.

This maid, Evelyn, the one whom I wanted to toy with, seemed to be the fun I've been waiting for. To unveil that hidden darkness and anxiety would bring me so much satisfaction. I smiled to myself but then looked back up to find the innocent golden eyes of Evelyn glance over me before I stepped away. Damn those gentle eyes, like hell the eyes are the windows to the soul. If that were true, she would be a creature of pure innocence and have no ill desires, but that was far from the truth. I would take joy in corrupting a creature of such ways, to stare into her eyes till I forced her walls to crumble, to break her with desire and confusion.

* * *

**Normal P.O.V:**

I was just headed back to my room for the night, I was glad that I had my own, even though Meyrin was a friend, I don't think I could stand sharing with her. Meyrin had told my story at the table in the servant's hall, and I was bombarded with praise and encouragement. Receiving praise and being recognized for my work was not foreign to me, but it still made me uneasy because I had no idea how to respond to any of it.

"That was quite an impressive feat earlier today." a velvety smooth voice stopped me from behind in the hall, slipping an arm in front of me. My heart froze over and I stuttered incoherent things underneath my breath as Sebastian hovered over me, trapping me against the wall with one hand.

"Oh, y-you saw?" I blushed slightly, staring up at his smirking face. Damn him.

"Yes, indeed, I must say I was quite astonished, I've never seen a meer human do something like that before." She's resentful of me, he thought, yet she doesn't want me to move from her...how delightful. I scoffed in an attempt to not let my self control break,

"You say that like you're not human." I titled my head and adopted a patronizing tone as I folded my arms across my chest. My face still burned though, and I probably looked like an apple to Sebastian, he smiled fully as his eyes narrowed,

"What an interesting observation. Why don't you ponder that while you sleep tonight?" he backed away from me, removing the smile and replacing it with a monotonous mask,

"Rest well, Evelyn." he left me plastered against the wall, still trying to process what the hell just happened. I swore I saw him smile once more before he turned completely around the corner, and I loathingly loved it. I brought my hands up to my face and I thought my fingers were of ice, it felt so hot. I could only imagine how I looked.

Pulling myself off the wall I inhaled deeply, calming my spirit, collecting my thoughts I continued the walk to my room. All the while I still felt like I was being watched, like a rabbit under the intense gaze of a hawk, preying and with intent.


	4. Chapter 4

**Tomorrow Morning in Ciel's office**:

Ciel yawned as he raised his head from his desk, a paper sticking to his forehead. What the? He groggily pulled it off in confusion. Did I fall asleep here? He thought innocently but then was didn't Sebastian wake me? He sighed as he stood up, but as he did, Sebastian came in with the rolling cart.

"Good morning, young Master." Sebastian greeted him, "Is something wrong?". He obviously picked up on Ciel's menacing vibes.

"Sebastian, you left me to sleep on my desk." he growled, "Why didn't you wake me?" he sat down with a cross expression. Sebastian smiled in amusement as he stopped in front of his desk.

"Why, do you not remember instructing me to let you be?" He began to set down breakfast on his desk. Ciel's eye grew wider,

"I did no such thing!" he defended himself. Temper, temper, Sebastian thought, pouring sugar into his tea.

"It is in our contract that I can not lie to you, or anyone really, I have broken nothing." Sebastian replied.

"I suppose not." Ciel mumbled, taking a sip of his tea, "I was probably not thinking straight. Anyway, what is for breakfast this morning?"

"I'm afraid it is quite simplistic this morning as I was hurried, and busy tending to...other business." he smiled innocently, "In any matter I have prepared scones and jam for you, along with Earl Grey tea. I do hope this will suffice." Ciel tried to ignore the devious tone Sebastian used,

"Very well, tell me, how was Evelyn yesterday? Did she perform her duties well?"

"She performed her tasks exceptionally in fact, young master. She even managed to correct a wrong one of our other servants had done." he placed a hand over his heart in sincerity. Ciel seemed unpleasantly satisfied.

"Good, it's better than having yet another useless maid." he then turned a curious eye to Sebastian, "And by 'other business' as you said before, what did you mean by that?" Sebastian laughed lightly,

"Oh,Master, I know that you would prefer not to know. It's best actually."

* * *

**Earlier this morning:**

I was assigned around the same amount of tasks as I was yesterday. No big deal, I could handle it easily, I just hoped Meyrin had taken my advice about the dishes since I wouldn't be over in the part of the manor to helo her if she was in need of my aid. As I was going about my chores, dusting, mopping, sweeping, etcetera, I couldn't help but feel uneasy, the same presence I felt last night accompanied me throughout the whole morning. I could barely focus, but I didn't let that stop me from executing my tasks beautifully.

As I was high upon a ladder, dusting cobwebs, from the corner of my eye I saw a small figure dart across the floor. Reacting quickly I reached underneath my skirts as I jumped off the ladder, pulling two daggers from a hidden holster. While mid air I chucked one of the silver projectiles at the creature I had identified as vermin. There was a squeak of pain as it slid across the tile. I landed with a graceful thud, ignoring the pain that shot up my legs and crippled me for a mere second.

As I was walking over to retrieve the dead rodent I noticed a silver flash flying toward my head. Panicking I swayed quickly to the side and flung my spare dagger in the direction of my attacker with a growl. Taking stance to avoid anymore attacks I realized just who it was that had ambushed me.

"S-Sebastian?" I was confused, but then furious, "What the hell was that for!?" I glared at him with my fists clenched and my eyes pouring out hatred. It unsettled me to find that he had caught my dagger between his fingers, I wish it had hit him square on!

* * *

**Sebastian P.O.V**:

Her sense of accuracy and reaction was simply phenomenal as I watched her glide like an angel from the heights and aim her silver blades with perfection. She barely flinched as she landed, but I knew that to her human body, it hurt beyond anything I had yet to experience. The bow she wore which had kept her short golden hair out of her face had come undone and fell to the ground below her. Her bangs now graced her porcelain skin, making her seem something like an elegant doll. Oh, Evelyn, you were too good.

But were you good enough for this? I reached into my vest and retrieved a silver knife, one of the many miscellaneous things I kept in my pockets. With one fluid movement I let it fly towards her from the shadows.

I smiled in delight as she dodged it with ease, a bit of relief on my part, I had no intention of hurting her. But I was surprised as she flung her spare dagger straight at me, not even having to see me, but sensing it with pure instinct. She wasn't just good anymore, she was amazing. With my quick reflexes I caught it with ease between my gloved fingers. Her face was just priceless when she realized who I was, and for the first time I saw her fury. It radiated from her powerfully like an intoxicating perfume washing over me, I could have just stood there forever, listening to her scorn me with her beautiful voice. But alas, every fire must eventually be extinguished.

* * *

**Normal P.O.V:**

I hate the way he stood there so smugly with his perfect face and everything, looking at me like I was some kind of fool.

"Are you just going to fucking stand there?" I growled, "Actually, please do! So I can throw something else at you." I charged at him, ready to punch that smile off his face. He only titled his head in amusement. Throwing my punch, he caught my hand to my surprise and I tripped into him. He only laughed at me as he pulled me into a hostage embrace. Struggling to get out and throwing curses at him he brought up my dagger to my own throat and pretended to slit it,

"Such vile profanity for a lady, don't you think?" he dropped my dagger when I growled at him, but being pressed so close to him was starting to mess with me. Damn him, damn him, damn him.

"Shut up and let me go!" I sneered, kicking his legs as hard as I could.

"Why? You were the one who tried to punch me, correct?" he breathed cooly, pulling me tighter.

"But you could have killed me!" I shouted. Suddenly he released me, but not for long until her grabbed my wrist with one hand and face in the other.

"But I didn't though. You are still alive and well." his face was dangerously close to mine and I couldn't help but turn red. He was infuriatingly intoxicating and god I wasn't sure I wanted to punch or kiss him.

"You tried, though." I replied, "And for no reason either." I flinched as his crimson eyes seemed to bare into my soul, through my skull and down my veins.

"My intention was not to kill or harm you, but to test your reflexes. You succeeded." he smiled at me, releasing my wrist and brushing back a bit of my hair. I just stood there limply, I just wanted to cry now, all these feelings were so frustrating to try and understand.

"What if I didn't though?" my voice cracked.

"I didn't have a doubt in my mind that you wouldn't." he replied, letting me go and backing away into the shadows. I tried to stop him, but my attempts were so weak.

"Sebast...s..." I whined as I watched him stride down the corridor. I sighed heavily, weighed down by emotions. Slowly I sunk to the floor and let my hair cover my face, so that no one would see me cry.

There were so many things I couldn't deal with right now. Being alone in this new manor with no familiar faces, having no one I can truly trust. I seriously became sick with worry and longing when I thought of Claire and Daisy, and how I missed them more than anything in the world. And this butler was just making things worse, I was already vulnerable when I arrived, and he just twisted the knife. Sometimes I thought he did it purely to torment me. Not only was it the people here, but the expectations. Ever since I came here I strived to be the most exceptional, pushing myself to limits that really weren't healthy. When I jumped from that ladder I thought my legs were going to shatter, but I did it anyway just because I had wanted to be impressive. Why did I have to be such a showoff? Is it because I liked the attention, though I typically shied away from it? There were no words to describe my deep hatred and confusion with my feelings.

I didn't see Sebastian for the rest of the day, and I was glad about that. I wasn't exactly sure how I would react to him. I didn't let the incident this morning show on my actions though, I didn't want anyone to suspect a thing. They didn't. I was such a good actor.

I ended the day normally and quietly, just like I would prefer. As I changed into my nightgown and hit the pillows I fell asleep instantly, exhausted from today.


	5. Chapter 5 End of Part 1

**One day before the ball:**

**Sebastian P.O.V:**

As I was giving out chores for the day I noticed that Evelyn was ten minutes late. She looked exhausted and her appearance was muddled compared to her typical perfect aura. I tried to keep the glee off my face, I could taste her intense emotions, hatred, sadness, and admiration like candy. I had successfully cracked open her mask and she was currently repairing it. I knew that salt was the last thing I would put in her wounds, but I had to keep them open, and of course sugar hurts a whole lot less than salt.

* * *

**Normal P.O.V:**

Today dragged on and on like a rusty knife scratching at my skin. My body was healthy and had not a single ache, yet I felt bruised and weary. At random points in the day I had wanted to cry, and sometimes I let a tear or two slip. I tried to focus on setting up for the ball, but it seemed impossible to concentrate with Sebastian in the same room as me, even with Meyrin's help, which wasn't much.

Eventually it got done, it took the whole day but it got done. I was so tired and I wanted to go back to my room and sleep, I didn't really care if I was starving.

I felt someone gently take my hand, at first I thought it was Meyrin, but then I remembered that she had left already. That means it was...sigh, didn't he already cause me enough emotional trauma? Apparently not.

"Evelyn," he began smoothly, "The ball is tomorrow and servants are not allowed as guests. Seeing as it is already set up, why don't we have just one dance?"

"No." I replied coldly as I yanked my hand away from him. Sebastian was genuinely shocked as he watched me walk away, but he started after me.

"Are you still upse-" he began but stopped as I whirled around, obviously pissed.

"Listen here, Michaelis." I started, pointing an accusing finger at him, "I don't know what you're tying to do to me and I couldn't care less, but I'm not going to let you. I've thought about it and I think it is best you just don't talk to me at all outside of giving me orders." and with that I stormed away, looking back to make sure he wasn't following. He wasn't. Bloody perfect.

I locked myself in my room, I thought I was going to be sick. I crawled into bed, literally from the floor, and screamed into one of my pillows. Sebastian Michealis, I don't know what you are, but I think I love you.

* * *

**Sebastian P.O.V:**

As I took her hand in mine she didn't flinch, her soul didn't even quiver. Instead it droned in cold annoyance. Despite this unsettling fact I requested a dance from her, hoping she would accept my request and to allow me to grace her soul's wounds with sugar. I was surprised when I was given a bone chilling negatory. What? I knew she was still upset but I didn't expect her to deny me a simple favor. I tried once more but suddenly her soul flared with such heat I thought it might burn me.

What had I done to her? I had scarred this innocent creature all in hopes of finding entertainment, and as I did, it seemed twisting the knife would only bring both of us pain.

I let her runaway, it was the only solace I could give her for now, no matter how much I wanted to feel her heartbeat against mine and run my fingers through her soft hair. Oh, Evelyn, I do wish you would let me heal you.

* * *

**Day of the Ball:**

**Normal P.O.V:**

All of the servants were requested to help in the kitchen under Sebastian's supervision. As I was rolling pastries there were multiple times he tried to engage in conversation, but I simply ignored him. I didn't even care that all the other servants were so confused as to what was going on between us. No one ever just ignored Sebastian. But I did, and he allowed me to.

The kitchen activities nearly took the whole day, only a couple more hours until people would be arriving for the ball. The musical compilations were already here and I accompanied them in setting up.

* * *

**At the Ball:**

I seemed to forget the troubles of my life for just the night as I maneuvered in between masked people with a platter of pastries I had prepared. Serving people with a genuine smile, and when I wasn't, I was gazing at the beauty of the decorations and the elegant dresses worn by the noble woman. I had a rhythm going on as I swayed through people to the tune of the music. Honestly, this was the closest I could get to dancing.

I soon ran out of things to serve so I headed back to the kitchen to retrieve more. I was shocked to find that there were no more things to carry around. Sighing in acceptance I set the platter into the sink and left back to the ballroom.

"Excuse me, Madame." I heard a voice, an awfully familiar one.

"Se...?" I turned around and was greeted by a masked man, the shadow of his mask covered his eyes so I couldn't really tell. It sounded like him, but I didn't recognize the attire or anything. Besides, servants weren't allowed to attend anyway. Just a coincidence, I thought to myself.

"Yes, sir?" I smiled at him politely, "How may I be of assistance?"

"Would you mind escorting me to the Ballroom, it's quite labyrinthine in this manor." he asked. I thought to myself, what was he even doing out here anyway?

"Yes, of course, sir. Please follow me." I motioned for him to follow me. I inhaled sharply as I felt him link arms with me, but I didn't protest, I was sure it was just polite manners on his behalf.

"You're quite beautiful, you know." he mentioned casually as we were walking. I looked up at him blushing with wide eyes, he only looked forward, a blank expression.

"Oh, uh, thank you, sir." I stared forward, smiling a bit. He laughed lightly as he glanced at me,

"Surely you must have many admirers." This guy was seriously flirting with a maid.

A MAID. That was kind of weird. I replied to him,

"I'm afraid not, sir, I don't believe I've caught anyone's eye to be honest." and I was honest. I could feel him tense up at my reply.

"That's surprising news to me. Do you fancy anyone then?" he gently nudged me. I felt myself grow anxious as he crossed my mind,

"Well, I think I do but..." I thought for a moment, "He really just makes me confused is all." I looked down at the floor.

"That's too bad." the stranger replied, "Maybe I could take your mind off him with a dance?" he held out his hand in a request. My heart froze as I stared at him, a nervous grin on my face,

"Oh, um, I'm sorry to disappoint you, sir, but servants aren't allowed to attend as guests, and that includes dancing. I removed my arm from his and added, "Besides, I'm not much of a dancer anyway. I'm sure that there are other women who would love to dance with you." I bowed slightly as we just so happen to stop right in front of the ballroom. He smiled at me in amusement, withdrawing his hand,

"Very well, my lady, however if you change your mind, my request still stands." he left me then, my heart still beating quickly. He was so charming, and I didn't even know his name.

For the rest of the night I just stood around in a daze, assisting random people, and searching the crowd for the gentleman I had escorted. I found him a couple of times, even caught him staring at me occasionally. I really did want to dance with him, but the rules and my feet dictated otherwise. I wasn't even dressed for a ball anyway.

* * *

**After Hours at the Ball:**

Not a single soul was left in the ballroom except for mine. I was really upset that he had left already, but I was too nervous to confront him. I shooed everyone else away, I assured them that I could clean it all up by myself. I wasn't really sure of that but I just wanted some peace and quiet.

As I was wrapping up some decorations, I nearly dropped the delicate thing on the floor,

"My lady." I quickly turned around to find my masked gentleman smiling at me. Delight spread across my face.

"I thought you left." I replied, setting down the decoration.

"Without a dance from you? I don't think so." he held his hand out once more, "My offer still stands." I sighed,

"Even though the ball is over I'm still not capable of dancing." I smiled coyly but gasped as he grabbed my wrists to drag me into the middle of the floor. I wanted to stab him now, how dare he do that.

"That's nonsense." he breathed as he pulled me closer, resting one hand on my waist. Okay, maybe wanting to stab him was a little harsh. We started to move slowly to the non-existent music. I began panicking, trying to keep up with him and stammering,

"S-sir, I can't da-" I tripped into him but I recovered quickly, stumbling on my own feet and occasionally his. He still smiled down at me as I stared up at him with innocent eyes.

"Why don't you let your hair down?" I blushed as I felt his hand move around to the back of my head, unraveling my golden hair from its place, even if there wasn't much to let down, my bangs sweeped across my face and seemed to make my like wise colored eyes pop.

"Absolutely lovely." he coed as he intertwined his fingers with mine. I giggled nervously as my pulse quickened. I was getting better at keeping his pace.

We dance for a couple more minutes, but those minutes seemed like forever, enjoying the feel of him touching me. As the dance died down I realized how in sync I was with him. Wether or not that was because I was getting better or he had purposely starting dancing poorly to make me feel better about my skills, I didn't know, I didn't care. I grew upset when I realized that I would probably never see him again. He seemed to pick up on this,

"Is something wrong, miss?" he asked, stopping the dance, but keeping the pose.

"I don't even know your name." I replied, leaning against him. He let out a small laugh as he bent down to my face, bringing a hand to the back of my neck, he kissed my forehead,

"You may call me Sebastian, Madame." he practically purred as he removed his mask. No. No. Nonono. I just wanted to die... In his arms. Groaning in defeat I fell into him and buried my face into his chest,

"I'm going to kill you tomorrow." I gave my empty threat.

"I'd like to see you try." he breathed in my ear, wrapping me in his arms.

**Author's note**: And that would conclude Part 1 of this story. This is all I had written in my notebooks when I was copying it from there, but I know exactly where I want to go with this. Expect a certain pair of maids to be making a reappearance, I didn't just put them in there for no reason.


	6. Chapter 6 Beginning of Part 2

**Tomorrow Afternoon:**

Sebastian allowed everyone a late start today due to their hard work yesterday.

I was quite thankful since last night was rather exhausting, first the dance, and then having to clean up the entire ballroom. Even if I did have a little help from...certain people, it was still nice to be able to sleep in.

After Sebastian had dismissed everyone else by giving them orders that left me last, like always. He so did it on purpose too, from the smirk on his face to the tone of his voice, it was a dead giveaway. There was silence between us as he stared at me directly for about a minute. Leaning on the staircase handrail I broke the silence,

"Are you just going to stare at me all day?". He narrowed his eyes playfully at me,

"I was planning on it. However, seeing as how that won't work, I suppose you want your chores?" he advanced the staircase drawing closer to me. I still wasn't used to how he just walked up to me and touched me like it was no big deal.

Ever since last night I was stuck in emotional limbo, clashing between coy and uncomfortable. I had no idea how I actually felt about him, all I knew is that he was thrilling and that I loved that. Perhaps in time I could grow to genuinely like him, instead of having an uncertain infatuation draw out for too long. I had barely been staying here for a week, and all the feelings that I hold now will probably die out sooner or later, and if not, then I will truly know how I feel. Until then I can only enjoy the vague and fragile relationship I have with him.

He trapped me against the stairwell railing with his hands and I looked up at him, my mind swirling,

"Yes, that would be delightful." I replied with condensation.

"Very well, your task for today is an easy one, do you want to hear it?" he asked. I sighed,

"Quiet teasing me and tell me." he leaned in towards me and grinned,

"It is to spend the whole day with me.". My eyes widened in disbelief,

"Yeah, you'd like that wouldn't you? Now what's my real task?" I folded my arms, he smiled in amusement,

"You'll find that I do not lie, my dearest Evelyn, that is your real task." Ha! Like hell he didn't lie, I knew, or at least thought, that full well.

"What about last night? You pretended like you were a guest, you broke the rules too." I replied, glancing away, still embarrassed from yesterday. He eyed me carefully, stood up straight to give me some space, and brought a hand up to his face in a thoughtful manner,

"I only truthfully misled you," I looked back up at him, "If you look back on last night you'll see that I did not once say anything or do anything that would have confirmed me as a guest, you only assumed that. It's such a wonderful thing that humans do, it makes it a lot easier to fool them.". I just stood there in adoring annoyance, narrowing my eyes I was determined to win this,

"But you still broke the rules by attending."

"I only dressed the part, I did not dance with a single person as the ball progressed." he replied.

My violent thoughts towards his smugness seemed to occur much too often, and it seemed as if he could sense my irritation. I suppose it was my fault that I had just assumed he was a guest, whatever. I only sighed in defeat, glaring back up at him.

"About your chore, it starts now." he began descending the staircase, leaving me leaning against the railing. I began after him at a casual pace, but he quickened his, and I quickened mine. He was doing this on purpose just to spite me I presumed. It escalated the point where I was literally running after him in a confused daze, no clue as to where he had gone. What a jerk. Why would he even do this? I thought he had his fun with frustrating me already.

"Sebastian!" I yelled, stopping in front of the main staircase and taking a breather, "This isn't funny!"

"I find it absolutely hilarious." I felt all the blood drain from my face in surprise as I felt his arms wrap around my waist from behind. He rested his chin on my shoulder and I stood there completely rigid. Just when I thought I might be okay with him he goes and does something like this.

"You're rather unprofessional." I stated, unsure how to react in this situation.

"I may be, but that does not hinder me from excelling at my job." he replied, letting me go. I immediately turned around to face him once he released me. I was beginning to redden. I crossed my arms, I was considering yelling at him, but I did that before and I just ended up crying. I didn't say anything, though I had a million and one things I could have. I love you. I hate you. You confuse me. I wasn't even sure how but he picked up on this,

"Is there something you would like to say maybe?" he asked, tilting his head at me, using a patronizing tone.

"No, not at all." I replied curtly and twitched a smile, "I'm just here to follow orders."

"Well it seems you're having trouble following them, seeing as you had a hard time keeping up with me I was without you for a short while, which is against orders." He smiled smugly and awaited my reply. He dared to strike me where it hurt, bringing up my short comings, even if the task did seem impossible I felt ashamed that I couldn't complete it to its fullest. Damn my high expectations.

" You know I can't run as fast as you." I tried to defend myself, even if I didn't feel like I was worth defending.

"Inexcusable." He stated shortly after I had finished, "However... I am willing to forget it if you tell me what you're thinking right now.". Ha. Ha ha ha. No way in hell that was happening.

"In that case you can remember it all you like." I replied almost immediately, no way I was telling him what was on my mind. Being faced with my failures was less torture than revealing feelings. This didn't surprise him,

"Suit yourself." he walked passed me and stood in a doorway, stopped and turned around, "You still have a task to follow through on, so come along." I uncrossed my arms and followed him. I pretty much just followed him the entire day, doing small things along the way as he asked of me. There were moments when he drove needles into my heart with unkind words, but he stopped the bleeding almost every time with cool whispers of healing. It's like he wanted to keep me in this state of confusion.

* * *

**Sebastian P.O.V:**

Last night was grand. I had always been a creature of truthful deception and twisting the perception of lesser beings, and that night was no exception. I had masterfully guided her straight into my arms even as she had a burning hatred for me, to feel the heat and fire as I danced with her was truly astounding. There was also uncertainty, an emotion that I had yet to find a way to describe, it left me uncertain myself. Defeat, the icy thud in her heart as I revealed my identity, sweet and crisp.

This morning she was still radiating a combination of irritation and admiration. I can only describe dislike as fire and admiration like warm liquid, so to possess both at the same time was something like the feeling of becoming enveloped in lava. It was simply delightful. It was something I just had to keep eliciting from her, to induce a desire to stay far away yet to be close as possible.

I suppose ,however, as much as I was just using Evelyn for entertainment and an object of interest, I did care for her well being. She was such a hard working soul, putting aside feelings and her physical capacities to succeed. It was something that one could admire, but also one could be concerned about. She seems to have become detached from herself and goes to extreme limits to impress, to feed a non-existent ego maybe? No, to make her feel like she was worth something. Once I had forced open her subconscious shield I saw something in her that evoked pity from me. I rarely pitied anyone. But there was not enough of the feeling to make me stop what I was doing to her, I didn't care that much.

* * *

**Normal P.O.V:**

It was nearing the afternoon when there was a knock on the front door. Sebastian and I were just in the other room when we heard it. He looked surprised as if he wasn't expecting it, but he went to go answer it anyway. He told me to stay put, which I did. However I did press my ear to the door to perhaps try and hear what was going on. Nothing. I tried looking though a crack in the door to see. I could barely make out the scene, but it seemed like Sebastian had let in whoever was knocking at the door, and I could tell they were wearing a hat, looked like a bowler hat. He looked like he was conversing with them, but he had eventually led them in a direction that would lead to Ciel's office. I continued to stare through the crack until I saw Sebastian come back from where he had left.

I quickly scrambled from the door and stood at the other end of the room, trying to seem as innocent as possible. When he entered I turned to him,

"So, who was that?" I asked, genuinely curious. He went over to a chair and adjusted the pillow that lay on it,

"It was just the head of a business that the young master collaborates with sometimes. Apparently he had sent out a letter previous to his arrival but it must have gotten lost.". I nodded, my previous manor used to have lots of visitors like that too. Moments passed and there was the loud bang of a gun being fired. Dread washed through me, I looked to Sebastian but he was already out the door, sprinting at inhuman speeds. I followed after him, though I'm pretty sure I did hear him yell to me to stay away. There was no chance I was staying away, no chance of letting my new master get hurt as well.

Just as I was about to burst through the door there were three more cruel bangs and a thud as something fell against the door. Panicked I pushed and pushed against the door, but there was something, or someone, heavy blocking it. With one final shove I managed to break through, my eyes scanned the room. Ciel was on the floor, but alive, the man with the hat had a gun pointed at him. My eyes fell down to where a bloody noir butler lay. Terror, absolute terror coursed through me. The barrel of the gun turned towards me, and I accepted my fate.


	7. Chapter 7

A hand grabbed my ankle with a cruel yank and I fell to the floor. The gun sounded once and the bullet lodged into the wall, where my head would have been only a few seconds ago. Whoever had grabbed me had now shoved me into a corner so that I could not see what was happening. Shocked and scared I stayed there. The man with the gun made an aggravated noise as he reloaded, but then he gasped,

"How are you not dead!?" I heard him stumble back once or twice. I heard only a low dark laugh as foot steps advanced towards the wielder of the gun.

"What is it that you want with my Master?" it asked. The depth of evil I felt in his voice drove me into denial about who possessed it, but I knew in my heart that it was Sebastian, alive and standing with three bullets dug into his flesh.

"Do you know how much money that little brat has scammed me of!?" The man shouted, anger and fear dripping from his tone. His voice quivered as he continued,

"I've gone bankrupt because of him! I can barely support my family because of him! This is my revenge." He fired the gun once more and I heard the sickening sound of metal twisting into meat. Sebastian did not fall, in fact I did not even hear him stagger.

"What are smiling for? Just die already!" Another shot, then silence. I could hear the heavy breaths of the man, terror-stricken by the still standing butler. Sebastian began to advance upon him. There was a click, like the sound of an empty gun, and then a scream as he fell to the floor. I could hear the crack of bone and the cry that accompanied it. Pained gasps and yells for help echoed throughout the room. I couldn't stand not to look anymore. Slowly I turned my hesitant head. What I saw was terrifying, I almost started to cry. Sebastian had pinned him to the floor, and from the looks of it there wasn't much of a man anymore than mutilated flesh. The reek of blood followed its way over to me. I saw Sebastian rise, a monotonous expression on his face with bright red smears on his crisp white gloves. He stepped over the body and found his way to Ciel who also sat on the floor, a few bloody scrapes on his arms and face, but that was all. I did not want to believe what I had just seen, I wanted it to be a dream, or hoped that I was seeing things.

"Are you alright, young Master?" he asked, examining Ciel's scratches.

"I'm fine, it's just a few cuts." he brushed away Sebastian's hands as he stood up, but he faltered for a second and Sebastian caught him. They exchanged a few more words that I could not hear and I saw Ciel glance over at me, as well as Sebastian. Suddenly I was very aware of how I probably would have died had it not have been for Sebastian. I also realized that there was no way I could have taken on an armed adversary and lived, yet the way I was raised expected it from me. I truly understand now what it meant to serve your master with your life and protect them with all you've got, even if it meant dying for them. I was trained to fight people like this, it all seemed very easy when I knew there was no chance of me actually dying. When I was put face to face with a real situation though, I froze, I gave up almost instantly. I truly was a disgrace to my family.

"Evelyn..." Sebastian began walking towards me, his voice serious and a bit angry, "I know you heard me tell you to stay away. Yet you still came. How stupid can you be?" I felt a skewer plunge straight through my chest.

"I...I...thought I could help." I nearly whispered, on the brink of tears.

"The only thing you did was put yourself in danger." he growled, now looming over me. I truly was scared of Sebastian now, sure he could be unpleasant, but outright violent and ruthless petrified me to the core.

"...I'm sorry..." I choked out, hiding my face. He did not answer, but I could feel his eyes burning into my skull. He turned and made his way back to Ciel and led him out the door, passing me by. I could hear Ciel arguing, saying that he was fine, and Sebastian insisting otherwise and that he get some rest. I took this moment to stand and took some staggering steps forward, rubbing at my watering eyes. I walked out the door and headed back to my room.

* * *

**Sebastian P.O.V:**

I rushed in through the door but was greeted by three fresh bullets driven into my chest. I fell against the door in surprise and stayed there for a moment. I could feel someone shoving against the door, and eventually they pushed through. It was Evelyn. Such a recklessly brave girl. I saw her freeze and her soul chilled, drained of all color as she stared into the barrel of the gun. She was about to die, and there was nothing she could do about it. There was something I could do though. I grabbed her by the ankle and pulled hard enough so that she fell to the ground with me, barely missing the bullet. I stood and quickly dragged her to the corner, face towards the wall. I didn't want her to see what I was about to do. I was about to do what I do best.

I turned around and step by step drew nearer to my enemy, the attacker of my beloved Master and dearest Evelyn. He would not live. I felt myself grow excited at the thought of tearing him apart, but that would be quite the mess to clean up afterwards. I must limit myself to a clean beating.

"What is it you want with my Master?" I asked, my eyes narrowed and lips pulled into a frown. I let the hidden darkness seep into my voice to terrify him. It worked, I felt his presence tremble and he struggled to keep his sweaty grip on the gun. He fired at me twice, the pain was there but it was bearable. I grinned at him, a true twisted grin, and I closed the distance. My hands to his throat and his body to the floor. He dropped the gun, not that it would have done him any good. I snapped his arm and the scream that it drove from his mouth was pure heaven, not like I'd ever experience that though. I lost myself in the sweet sounds of terror and pain, and maybe got a little carried away. I did not intend to shed blood, but there it was, stark against my white gloves. I could no longer feel the cold dripping aura of his fear, it had vanished, I was done.

I arose, the thrill now exiting my body. What a shame I didn't get to do this more often. The Master was my first priority at the moment. I went to go examine him but he kept insisting that he was fine, what a stubborn child. My attention was then turned to Evelyn. This was the first time that I had been genuinely upset with her. I strode over to her, my eyes dead set on her. What was she thinking? Stupid, irrational girl! She could have died, she could have thrown her life away. It angered me to think that she acted so blindly all for the sake of upholding the values forced upon her. I know that she does not care much for the Master, so risking her life for him without some kind of self satisfaction was out of the question. She was selfish. I reprimanded her for putting herself in danger. Doesn't she understand that I would miss her? Wait..._ I_ would miss_ her_?

* * *

**Normal P.O.V:**

My fingers brushed up against the wall as I made my way down the corridor to my room. I felt like I had been hit by a train just now. Sebastian had yelled at me, and it was harder to take than I thought it would be. I feared him now. The image would not leave my head, the smell lingered too. Red and sticky, it almost made me sick. I tried swallowing the lump in my throat but it was no use. I thought about what Sebastian had said, he called me stupid. Did he really mean that? Maybe. I probably deserved it anyway.

"Evelyn." my heart sunk as I turned around to meet Sebastian. I began to murmur that I was sorry, I just didn't want him to yell at me again. He approached me with same cold exterior that he had left me with. He opened his mouth to speak and I expected reprimand once more,

"I'm sorry you had to see that." I was confused. Wasn't he mad at me?

"I...I thought you were upset with me..." I looked down. He put his hand on my shoulder and I flinched,

"I am. But it's only because I was worried about you. I apologize." he replied, letting some warmness seep through his cold walls. I ignored his apology,

"Sebastian..." I whispered, "...You killed him...". I refused to look him in the eyes, more out of fear than anger. In fact I wasn't mad at him at all, which is strange because I usually was. He sensed this and he did not respond. He removed his hand from my shoulder, and began to walk away. He was acting very strange, usually he liked to make me uncomfortable, but he backed away fairly easily this time. I watched him wander into the dark hallway till I no longer saw him.

* * *

**Sebastian P.O.V:**

Once I had escorted the Master to his room I thought I would take it upon myself to confront Evelyn about what had happened. I found her walking to her room. I stopped her with the mention of her name, but when she turned around there was neither anger nor sadness, but something new. Fear. I did not like the smell of it on her, it stung like an excess of ground pepper and choked me. When I had first met her she was more wary of me than scared, and I had enjoyed the scent then. But now something had changed, whether it was me or her I could not tell just yet. I tried to apologize to her for the gruesome scene she had witnessed, it was understandable that a human would be greatly unsettled by it. She ignored my apology, however.

"...you killed him..." Her words echoed through my head. The way she said it left me in pain, she was so scared, she trembled underneath my touch. This was something I couldn't handle, I didn't know why. I left her then. I didn't want to stay here basking in her aura.

I wandered down the corridor pondering what was wrong with me, what was wrong with her. I had never felt this way, and it made me hate myself. When, after all my years, did fear begin to suffocate me? When did I start caring? I knew the answer deep inside me, but I refused to admit, there was no way a creature like me could harbor feelings as such.


	8. Chapter 8

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**: Oh my gosh, I apologize deeply for being sooo behind on updating this. I have been quite busy as of late with vacations, friends, and a whole bunch of other business. I have also been role playing a lot. However, that is no excuse to present to such valued readers as yourselves. This chapter which I just wrote entirely in the past hour, is quite different. You've had 7 chapters of angst and emotion I thought it would be nice to have something clear and happy for once. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter and I appreciate your patience with me.

* * *

The following day I awoke and was reluctant to attend assignments for the day. Duty, however, always trumps reluctance. I stood in the mirror as I gazed at myself, touching my golden hair and noticing how it was a bit longer then I had wanted it as of late. It was halfway to my shoulders and I typically like to keep it as a short bob, I supposed I would have to cut it soon. Usually I would have Claire do my hair for me since she seemed to be a professional, but obviously she was no longer present. I was terrified to ask Meyrin out of fear that she would leave me with something quite undesirable. I thought about having Sebastian perhaps do my hair, but I quickly shrugged off the idea. I would just do it myself.

It was rather early in the morning, much earlier than I needed to be up for. I had no troubles falling asleep, but I seemed to slowly shift out of dreamland multiple times during the night, which lead me to just stay awake. Reasons for this were pretty obvious. I was not used to the sight of death, nor death being delivered by those I held high in my sights, and almost _dying_ was something that would keep anyone up for at least a week or two. I grabbed a pair of scissors from the drawer and placed a sheet over my shoulders. I stood in front of the mirror and held out a lock of my hair, praying to any god that would listen that I would not mess up. Snip. One blonde lock fell to the ground. Snip. Another joined its familiar on the floor. Many snips later I had managed to trim back my hair to its desirable length. I turned and craned my neck in the mirror to see if I had done a good job with the back, but it was hard to tell. I shrugged, it was good enough for me. I quickly swept up all the hair on the floor and disposed of it, proceeding to place the scissors back in the drawer. I smoothed out my apron and made sure my uniform looked nice as always before I headed out the door.

As I approached the stairwell I grew uneasy, clutching my fists I thought about the strange tension that I held with Sebastian as of late and it made me nervous. I had a lot of time to think about things last night and I came to the conclusion that yes, I was still scared of him, but what else was he supposed to do? Let the gunman go with the chance that he might return and succeed in his mission the next time? No, he would need to dispose of any threat to his Master, and that was very desirable in my eyes. However, I couldn't help but be concerned for Sebastian's health. I am sure I did not imagine the sickening sounds of metal twisting through his flesh, and I wouldn't be surprised to find him in bandages today.

The sight of the stairwell came into view, it was empty. I must be too early today. Shrugging I waited around, it's not like anyone ever got in trouble for being early. I sat on one of the steps and awaited the arrival of everyone else. I thought about it and figured Sebastian would probably be the first to arrive, and I was correct. His figure approached me, it was not impaired or in pain, he walked like he did every other day. I tilted my head in curiosity as I observed him some more. He did not appear to be harmed in any way and no one would have guessed otherwise. I stood up slowly and rested my hand on the hand rail, he greeted me.

"Good morning, Evelyn, you're rather early." he raised an eyebrow at me as he continued to walk towards my figure, stopping only a foot or two away.

"Why yes, I had a bit of trouble sleeping, you see..." I glanced away from him, leaning my body away from his. He looked me dead in the eyes as he continued, completely switching tones,

"We need to talk about what happened last night." he titled his head and smiled a bit. My eyes widened as I inhaled deeply,

"Yes you're right..." I replied, and swallowing my pride, I spoke, "...I'm sorry, what I did was irrational and I wasn't thinking... I didn't mean to make anyone worry about me, especially you.". Sebastian shut his eyes slowly and dropped his smile,

"That's not what I'm talking about." he took a step back and turned away from me, " There are many things you must understand if you are to continue working here, which would be ideal for me seeing as you tend to keep my workload to a minimum." I was confused, what else could he possibly be talking about? I was silent and when he looked to me for confirmation I nodded, indicating for him to continue. He turned back to me and began to speak in an authoritarian manner,

"First of all, you must learn to over come your in-capabilities in the art of combat, which of course would mean actually having to kill people if necessary. It would do us no good if you went off and got yourself killed." Oh, _that's_ what he was talking about. He continued,

"Secondly, what you saw was something that I had to do, and I am completely understanding if you are afraid of me, any normal person would be." he frowned a bit as he looked away from me. I could sense that he felt badly about frightening me last night, but I forgave him and was willing to forget about it.

"Third, I know you have taken notice of my somehow unharmed form. Now Evelyn, that is something that I'm not sure you're quite ready to know about yet, but in time, in time." he paused as he smiled at my confused expression, his own changing to sudden interest as he took a step or two towards me.

"Did you cut your hair?" he asked, absently reaching out a hand to run his fingers through it. I flinched a bit under his touch, however, I was much more used to him touching me now than I was before, I almost welcomed it.

"Yes, does it look okay?" His expression and tone made me worry about the quality of the cut, and my fears were confirmed when he responded with,

"...I'm going to have to fix this for you...". My shoulders slumped at his reply. Great. Just great. I sighed as I looked up at him,

"So...everything is...okay between us? No misunderstandings?" I asked, just for clarification. Sebastian smiled in amusement as he removed his hand from my hair and I secretly wished he hadn't,

"Everything is fine on my end, I'm not quite so sure about you, however." I rolled my eyes and answered,

"Of course everything is fine."

Eventually the rest of the servants showed up and the day progressed as usual. I was assigned my chores and as I set out to finish my last task of the day, I was stopped.

"Evelyn." a voice stopped me as I was climbing down from a ladder, feather duster in hand. I skipped the last few rungs and dropped to the floor, standing straight and walking towards the one whom had called me,

"Sebastian." I replied in a tone that mocked his. He smiled at me in amusement as he narrowed his eyes,

"Do you remember what I said this morning, about you being able to defend yourself?" he seemed to drop the playful tone in his voice and was quite serious now. I picked up on this and followed in line,

"Yes, what about it?" I tilted my head in curiosity. He looked down at me,

"If you wouldn't mind that is something I would like to work on right now. It is best to make sure you can defend yourself as soon as possible." he gestured to my legs, more specifically my skirt, "The daggers that you keep will not be enough for you to hold yourself against an enemy with a gun. I'm going to teach you that today." I was going to protest and say that I already knew how to use a gun, but he seemed dead set on doing that right now. I nodded and he motioned for me to follow him outside, to the back of the manor.

For the rest of the day he taught me the _proper_ way to handle a gun and how to get the most out of it. He then proceeded to tell me to shoot at him. This I was of course reluctant to do, he urged me on however, trying to convince me that he was quick enough to dodge the bullets. I did not buy that, and threw the gun to the ground in protest. He only clicked his teeth at me as he picked it up, placed it back in my hands and then proceeded to call me an insolent child. I then called him insane. He smirked at me as he stepped closer, wrapping his arms around me and leaning in close to my face,

"It indeed would be insane to do something like this wouldn't it?" he asked as he kissed my forehead. That was the second time he had ever kissed me and it made me bright red. Pushing him away from me in embarrassment, trying to keep myself from smiling, I crossed my arms and retorted,

" I believe I have the gall to shoot at you now." He seemed amused by me and smirked as he stepped away, quickly taking the gun from my hands that he had just given me,

"I'm afraid there will be no time for that right now, I must be inside preparing dinner, but perhaps I'll let you practice shooting at a live target another time." I shook my head at him in disbelief, a grin on my face,

"Alright, you better watch out, though. If I miss with the gun you know I'm good with knives." I patted the sides of my skirt where I had my daggers hidden underneath. Most people would be concerned about accidentally stabbing themselves at anytime, and of course that would be a major concern had they not known how to properly carry sharp weaponry around. I did know, however, and it was something I was always taught to do.

Sebastian did not respond but waved me off as he turned to go back inside, I was mostly done with my chores so I felt no need to return with him. Instead I stood in the nice plush grass and basked in the sun. It had been so long since I enjoyed a nice day outside, and the sun that shined so brilliantly in the sky matched the happiness that glowed within me. I decided I would explore the outdoors of the estate since I hadn't done that yet, maybe I would find something interesting, and if not, it was always a nice opportunity for reflection.

I made my way to the front of the manor and down the path that led into the forest. The path that I had come along my first day here. I laughed at how ridiculous I must have looked that day, they were nice memories to keep. It was also the day I had met Sebastian and I watched as he fell from a tree, concerned for his safety. Now that I think about Sebastian, I think about how much our relationship with each other has changed and I wonder now how I could have even hated him before. Things were so good between us now, the cloud that muddled our communications was now lifted and everything was crystal clear. No more misunderstandings, or crying, or fear. Everything was perfect and ideal. I wondered how long things could stay like this, and I hoped that they always would. As I was admiring the scenery, deep in thought, my eye caught something curious in the foliage. Something white.

Upon closer examination I came to the conclusion that it was a scrap of fabric torn off of someone's clothes. I felt it and it seemed to have the same texture as my apron. _How very odd_ , I thought.


End file.
